Two Finishes!

I finished two quilts this past week! This first one is from the 9 Patch Challenge from last summer. Remember, we were making one 9 Patch block per day for 90 days? I didn't get all the way to 90, but I'm pleased with what I did accomplish! The twisted layout design is from the Mary Quilts website. I quilted this one with a simple all over meander.

The second quilt is an old, OLD project from 2004. We were living at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, at the time and it was one of those Saturday Samplers from the LQS (Quilter's Quarters). I had it assembled into a top for forever and finally sent it to the quilter late last year. It sat in the basket just needing the binding. I think this one is going to be a gift for a special family member. :)

I have two more quilts that are quilted and just need binding...so stay tuned!

Happy Quilting!

Lisa

This post is especially for Lisa the sheep farmer. :) Your email is set to "no-reply," so this is the only way I can answer you...I hope you check back and see this!

The Friend-Sheep block of the month is from Serendipity Quilt Shop in Dagsboro. Good luck!

And since posts without pictures are boring, I thought I'd share one of my chair mate. Remember this picture of Whiskers? Here she is again, just waiting for me to sit down. I love this kitty...she is 14 years old and just the sweetest thing in the world.

BOM progress

I love Block of the Month projects. Maybe too much! They seem like such a good idea when you sign up, then suddenly they start piling up, untouched. I'm trying to be better about that and I think I've done good with all my current BOM's! Everything is caught up for January!

The first one is a stash BOM...I'm making it from my own fabrics. This is the February banner from the "Count on It" book:

Next is a quilt called Village Square...this picture actually has months 1 and 2 (and a kitty). The sheep in the second row isn't fused until the next block is attached. I also haven't appliqued the pieces yet, because I'm still undecided on what type of stitch I want to do (they are fused, though). If you happen to have this pattern...read it very carefully! There are numerous mistakes in the cutting directions. :(

Third is the first block from a new BOM at a (sort of - it's over an hour away) LQS. The quilt is called "Friendsheep." My friend, Irene and I are doing it together. Each month, the little sheep has a different holiday/seasonal theme. The applique is wool on a cotton background.

Last, are block 6 and 7 from the Snow Days BOM. Block 6 was actually from December, but with Christmas and a little project called Roll Roll Cotton Boll, I got a little sidetracked!!

Here's block 6:

....and block 7. It's not actually sewn together yet because my sewing machine is in the shop this week for a much needed rest and cleaning! I had done the pieced portion last week, but just finished the embroidery today.

There are four sections of pieced blocks for the Snow Days quilt as well and this is Section 3. I think we are about 1/2 way through this BOM. Yay!!

Happy Quilting!

Way to go!

I know someone famous!! :) My friends and fellow Delawarians (is that a word?), Pat and Kathy are published quilt designers! They have their first designs in this magazine (Quick Quilts, Feb/Mar issue)! It's a fun project too...you have to check it out! I subscribed to the magazine just to be sure I'd get their pattern in case I couldn't find it in local stores. It finally arrived today! I was beginning to think I actually ordered it in a dream. :P

It's a great design that combines the use of wool and traditional fabric piecing...very nice!!

Great job ladies! You should be so proud. :)

RRCB Bonus Project!

I had a few extra border units from the RRCB quilt, so in true Bonnie style I couldn't let them go to waste, right?! I made a quickie table runner out of them for my bookshelf.

You can see I just squared off the ends...

I might have to make more of these for every holiday! :)

Happy quilting!

When is a leader/ender a real project?

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Bonnie Hunter's "leader/ender" technique. It's a way to make your scraps usable, keep thread waste at a minimum, and also helps to avoid having your machine "eat" the corners of your fabric when you start to sew. She has great articles on her website about this concept, so I won't waste a lot of time here explaining it. :)

After quite a few years of telling myself "I'm going to do that one day," I finally jumped on the bandwagon (or was I pushed by my good buddy, Robin? I'll never tell.) Either way, I'm completely hooked!

My question is...when does a leader/ender project jump over to the "real" project list? The easy part is blissfully adding little twosie and foursie squares to my ever growing stash, but now I think I'm ready to start assembling these babies into a full fledge quilt project! While working on the RRCB, I started sewing some of the 4 patches and HSTs together and before I knew it, I had these!

I plan to make this quilt 60"x 72", before borders. I'll need 120 of these 6" blocks. I'm almost positive I have enough of the 4 patches already sewn, but I think I'll have a few more HSTs left to sew.

I know I'm going to love this quilt! I love to see little squares of fabric from other projects. There are even some fabrics that belonged to my Nana in there...and at least one calico print from a dress I made for my daughter when she dreamed of being Laura Ingalls Wilder. sigh....Where did those days go? Awww...the memories.

I'd love to hear about your leader/ender projects!

Happy Quilting!

p.s. Just want to say thank you , thank you for the kind comments on my RRCB quilt top!!

Whew!

It's done! I can't believe it, but it is! I think this thing became an obsession! I just couldn't stop. :P Really, I also just needed to finish it so I could clean up my sewing area. All the parts and pieces for this quilt invaded my room! Anyway, I love it...it looks so much better in person! The colors just don't show up the same in these pictures.

Now to piece the backing and get it sent off to the quilter! What will I work on next? Oh...maybe I should work on that pile of laundry that hasn't been touched. LOL

Happy Quilting!

A Quilt Inspector's job is never done...

This what I see when I turn my back on a quilt laid out on the floor! I turned away for a second to get the camera.

Look at him run when he gets yelled at!

Finally, straightened out again and ready for borders!

Happy Quilting!

almost ready...

I have half of my top together, so I'm almost ready for the next step. I haven't worked on it at all today, so I really doubt I'll have it done before the next step is posted. Any guesses what the border will look like? Whatever it is, I think it will really pull the center section together, don't you? I'm loving it so far. My colors are supposed to be "Christmas-y" and I even have quite a few Christmas prints in there, but it definitely doesn't scream Christmas, does it? I found a backing fabric online for $5/yd and it's actually the same as one of the fabrics I used in the string blocks. Maybe I'll have it ready to send to the quilter by the end of the month!! :) How are all of you doing?

....and the crowd goes wild!!

Well...I don't know about "crowds," but there is sure some celebrating going on at this house! I finished all the units for the RRCB Mystery! It may seem weird, but I can't really believe that I made it this far! LOL I really had to push myself through some of the steps, and came pretty close to giving up once or twice. :) I'm glad I stuck with it though and now I can start assembling the blocks! After seeing Step 7, I think I'll be pretty happy with the

colorway I chose.

Hope you all had a fun New Year's Eve! I'm really looking forward to 2011 and what the year has in store for our family. There is always the possibility of change where the Air Force is concerned. :P Until then, I am content to stay put. Of course, I've made some goals that I plan to focus on accomplishing. But most of all I really want to enjoy each day and truly appreciate the blessings in my life. I think it's easy for me to dwell negatively on insignificant things, when there is so much to be happy about.

One of my favorite songs sums it up pretty well:

it's all because of Jesus I'm alive
it's all because the blood of Jesus Christ
that cover's me and raised this dead man's life
it's all because of Jesus I'm alive

Wishing you all the best in 2011! Happy Quilting!